The present invention relates to methods of packing or crating telephone bay frames, relay racks, and the like, generally referred to as telephone switching equipment. More specifically, the invention relates to crating methods permitting storage and shipment of telephone switching equipment in a vertical position.
Telephone switching equipment is conventionally manufactured in the form of open, metal frames with spaced, upright members for supporting banks of relays, and the like. Such equipment may be temporarily taken out of use and placed in storage and/or shipped to another location for use there. Due to the relatively fragile nature of the equipment, and the type of crating materials used, it has been the customary practise to place the equipment on its side within the crate or package. Typical crates for such equipment have included a rectangular base with end panels hingedly connected thereto for folding movement into covering relation with the equipment lying on its side upon the base. The resulting wooden crate is covered with corrugated paperboard and banded.
Due to the weight of the equipment and the possibility of damage, the crates containing the equipment should not be stacked on top of one another. Since the height and width of the equipment are normally far greater than its depth, the space requirements are obviously much larger when the equipment is placed on its side and the crated units should not be stacked.
In spite of the added handling required, the more complicated and expensive crating with hinged side panels, and the additional space requirements, it has not previously been considered practical to crate the equipment in a vertical or upright position. This stems, at least in part, from the danger of damage to expensive equipment during handling when crated by conventional methods. Thus, there has existed a previously unfilled need for a crating system which would permit relatively safe, simple and fast packing, storing and shipping of telephone switching equipment in its normal, vertical position.
It is a principal object of the present invention to provide a method of crating telephone switching equipment including an upright metal frame holding banks of switches, relays, and similar electronic modules, in a vertical position.
A further object is to provide a novel and improved crating method for telephone switching equipment wherein the equipment and the crating materials become, in effect, an integral unit.
Another object is to provide a simplified and economical method of crating telephone switching equipment for temporary storage and/or shipment.
Other objects will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.